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Topic : Career Goals

Are you stuck in a dead-end job, or do you feel you are on the career path of your dreams? Talk about how to set - and achieve - your goals!

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Confuse on career ops

Hey there all!!

I`m a 21 yr old female in my 2nd yr nursing studies..... BUT know i hv this idea,feeling (dont know exactly what to call it) that i want to go in to Psychology...

At first i wanted to become a Psychologist when i was in school, but the fear to go a way from home to university kept me from it. I did a yr of working as a advertisement layout designer at a local news paper.. then i went to college to start my nursing studies... I enjoy nursing very much, but ther`s something in psychology that just keep me interested..

Child psychology to help children cope with their problems, to help parent help their children cope with their problems, to listen and not just let it be....

BUT my father is the one paying my studies, and he say that i must first finish my nursing course of 4 yrs....

Mid-life career change needed

Hey folks, looking for some great ideas for my new business. I have been married twice, the first one was a closet case and the second (of 17 years) was king of domestic violence. With a lot of help and support, I was able to get out...scared to death of course...but have been out since last September and divorced in Feburary.

So, here I am a divorced 41 year old photography teacher who is just beginning her new life. As I get things in order (ok, throwing away a lot of the old crap) and looking forward to the future...an idea entered my mind.

Tell me what you think...I am wanting to begin my own business as "The Divorce Photograher - A Creative Celebration" for individuals who would like to therapeutically (and of course totally fun and super creative) deal with moving with their new life through photos. I would shoot anything they would like, such as trash the dress or tux, stand up on a mountain top and let the veil fly away..you get the idea...however they want to express themselves in a way that will allow them to heal.

With the divorce rate so high...who needs a wedding photograher these days Thanks for your feedback - mustbef8@gmail.com

Does anyone happen to know.....

A few months back, there was an episode regarding a man that had been unemployed for many years while his wife supported the family. Dr. Phil was gracious enough to help him get in touch with a gentleman that has a company in Dallas, I believe, anyway, this gentleman is an employment advisor of some sort. Dr. Phil claimed on the show, he believed the gentleman to be the best in the business. Does anyone happen to know the name of the episode or the business name in Dallas that was mentioned on the show. I am wanting to make a "mid-life" career change and would very much like to contact this company/man for some advice.

Career Goals

Im a 21 yr old female in my 2nd yr nursing studies..... BUT know i hv this idea,feeling (dont know exactly what to call it) that i want to go in to Psychology...

At first i wanted to become a Psychologist when i was in school, but the fear to go a way from home to university kept me from it. I did a yr of working as a advertisement layout designer at a local news paper.. then i went to college to start my nursing studies... I enjoy nursing very much, but thers something in psychology that just keep me interested..

Child psychology to help children cope with their problems, to help parent help their children cope with their problems, to listen and not just let it be....

BUT my father is the one paying my studies, and he say that i must first finish my nursing course of 4 yrs....

Im confuse, anyone wants to give advice,,,, plz do.....

FoxyGirl21

Sounds like your father is worried that you will not finish school.
Explain to your father why you want to change your career choice.
However think about this: a nursing degree can go in many directions,
clinical, research and also psychology. Once you are a nurse, most
hospitals will pay for you to further your education.

My potential employment with the Dr. Phil Show

My name is Michael Benefiel and I am a recent graduate of Iowa State University with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. I have been attempting to land a paying job in the "industry" for a few years (yes I was applying while still in college) now and have been getting denied on a steady basis. Anyone who has ever attempted to enter this line of work knows how competitive and hard it is to even land an interview with anyone out in L.A. or N.Y. I have made contacts out in New York with a few people who work with CBS and get denied on a weekly basis for employment. Recently on a long shot I had noticed an advertisement on 4entertainmentjobs.com for full time entry level employment with a "syndicated talk show going into its 7th season" with CBS. I figured that since I had already made contacts with CBS in New York it was worth a try to apply for this position.

A few weeks ago I received a call from an individual (who will remain nameless unless I am contacted by official Dr. Phil staff) wanting to interview me. I didn't have to call them; they called me for an interview, which up to this point was unheard of for me. During this initial phone call they asked me to come into the studio to check things out and see if it would be something I would enjoy. I explained to them that I had just earned my B.S. from Iowa State and was still out in the Midwest so I was unable to on such short notice. Then they explained to me they would call me for a phone interview to see if it would be something I would be interested in. I am familiar with the importance of location in this industry and explained to them that if it was a problem I was currently in Iowa to let me know so we could go on our separate ways, and they said it was ok and they would call me the next day. That night I was so ecstatic about landing my first professional job in this crazy industry I drove around for most the night and slept for no more than a couple hours.

The next day as I waited at the said time for the interview, no call came. I waited for 30 minutes after the scheduled time and called the number of the person to interview me, and as I called I was promptly hung up on. I figured that something had come up on the set and I would call the next day. As I called the next day I came in contact with the individual and was told they would call me for the interview in a couple hours, and once again, no call for the interview. I have been through this several times with this individual and get the same responses every time. I am still excited that I am being looked at for employment by this show, but at the same time I am looking for some sort of response from the staff as to what exactly is going on with the position that I was going to be interviewing for. I am looking for other jobs at the moment and it is so difficult to even do these other interviews when I know there is a chance that I'll be working on the set for Dr. Phil. If there is any information a staff member from the show could give me it would be so greatly appreciated. I know for a fact that I want my life’s work to be in the entertainment industry, and will do anything to get this position and get my foot in the door.

This whole process doesn't even feel like I have been applying for a job, it feels like I am in the midst of an intense love affair, and attempting to work out the details so that we can continue to stay with each other. Yes, that is what my life has become. I have no true love or true friends in the traditional sense and have let go of those ideals long ago. The only feelings of affection, love and loyalty I have towards anything in this world are for the entertainment industry. Anyone who reads this, if you feel compelled by what I have just said please spread this around, if you have any connections to the show or to CBS or the "industry' in general please spread this message on if you feel it in yourself to do so. If any staff gets a hold of this please can you let me know what is going on? I have such a burning desire to land a paying job in this industry I'll do anything I can do to spread my story so that I can get that interview! If any staff or anyone has any information that would be pertinent to my employment with this show or for that matter any other spot in the "industry" please email me at michaeljbenefiel@gmail.com. I can verify all information and my identity and the fact that I applied for the position with the show or any other information that is necessary. This is a completely honest and truthful account of what I have been going through and now that I am so close to landing a job I feel that I need to step up and spread my story more.

jobs in tampa

im a 35 yr old woman. and i have been looking for work since the middle of july. i go out every monday thru friday looking for a job. and all i get from the peole i go to is we will look over it and if we are interested we will call you, and well they never do call me for work, and i have a boyfriend, and well hes older than me, hes a 65 yr old man and hes working and well he is on me everyday to go out and get a job, and well im doing all i can but no one is hirering me, and i tell u its agrafated and fustrating, and now the price of gas i cant afford to keep going out every week and just wasting gas.and now my boyfriend told me that hes gonna cut the cable off if i dont get a job, and well im doing the best i can to get a job but no one is callling me for work. i figured when the kids went back to school i would get some calls but that wasnt true because im still in the same situation. and hey i was thinking about writing dr phil and see if he could help me get a job, but the thing is i dont wanna go on tv and tell everybody my problems.im one that just keeps to myself, and i watch dr phil everyday. well yall if anyone is in my situation i am in right now plz tell me what can i do i do about getting a job to get my b/f off my butt about hurry up and getting a job. yal can send me emails at sweetlovenbaby@tampabay.rr.com ok.

Your other skills will help you--It happened to me in 1999

This message is about the career section of the web site......I am a college graduate with a degree in Education and minor in Life/Earth Science.......I didn't know what I wanted to to after graduating...even though it looks like I wanted to teach.....it was just to late to turn back and change majors and besides I was sooo tired of being in school......I feel as if I could wipe my feet on my BS degree..........I taught in the Dallas ISD for 2 years and got a really bad deal. I was considered an intern...but to make the story short, I was not given the tools to be successful........in short, I was supposed to be given a mentor in help me in the classroom and I paid for the services in the amount of 500 dollars....well, my so-called mentor ( a tenured teacher of 25 years)...checked out on a medical leave of absence....to no fault of her own, I realize this, but the ball was dropped on me and the principal didn't do her job in replacing my mentor with a qualified person.....she merely place substitute teachers in my classroom who knew way less than I did....anyway, I did all of the work and had the entire Special Educaion department on my shoulders as a brand new teacher with no real classroom experience.....BUT I jumped into what I was given and was proactive...I did the parent meetings and ARDS and IEPs for the kids and everything and when I came time to evaluate me a Christmas time, I was graded down due to no instruction on what I was doing right or wrong........the principal never entered my classroom the entire time I was there....how that for not fair............NOW, I have basically been blackballed in the teaching industry and I don't know what to do.........someone please help me......I have the drive, the education, the examinations pass for the state of TX, yet I am not officially certified due to the actions of people above me.........what do I do?????....I've applied to many many school districts and I get the same answer every time.....they hire certified teachers before me....even if I ask for an internship.....same answer.....I've tried and tried.....and am soo sad...........HELP!! .......Tammy in Waxahachie, TX&nbsp

Dear Tammy,

I have never registered to use this board before, but I was terribly moved to hear your experience, so here I am. First I want to say that YOU WILL BE FINE, AND YOU WILL FIND YOUR DIRECTION SOON.

I experienced the same terrible situation you described in the school year of 1998-1999. Like you, I was a science teacher: I hold a B.A. in Biology with a German minor. I also hold an M.A.Ed. and had a "provisional, grades 9-12, biology" teaching certificate. After my experience in a school that had poor management, I didn't know what to do. I had a difficult situation: Three different 90-minute courses a day, each taught once; two of them were out-of-field, and the third, earth science, was my second (unofficial) minor in college, so I wasn't "allowed" to take 3 sections of that course, where I would have been well-qualified and happy. I had no mentorship at all. I had a lot of students whose special needs were either significant or went unreported to me, but for whom I had a lot of compassion. My reviews were always more critical than I expected. I really felt that I had been set up with too many courses. As there were too many "biology" teachers and my certificate limited me to that, I had to search my county school system for a pure biology job. I had poor luck, and decided to leave teaching.

Now, it was not my intent to tell you my story, but only to tell you that you are not the first one in this situation. The problems that led to your predicament are rooted in the school's role in our society. DO NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE NO OPTIONS. Your attitude, your skills, and your education have a place.

You need to look at the history of what you're good at. When I was eight, I was careful with my writing, almost to a fault (and I already loved knowing science). In high school, I found I could write a good, coherent essay. In college, I learned that I could correct my classmates' term papers in German and enjoyed it. While deciding whether to pursue a graduate degree in science, which requires DOING science, or becoming a teacher of science, which requires learning to KNOW AND COMMUNICATE science, I chose teaching. Now, perhaps also for you, this was the right decision for me. I always enjoyed the knowing of broad areas of science, but never as much enjoyed the doing of the science, as in lab courses. In school to become a teacher, I enjoyed writing my thesis more than any other activity. Even as a teacher, I found myself correcting the grammar and usage in my science students' papers. Can you guess where I headed next?

Editors and writers get to learn and know a large amount of interesting and compelling science, while helping the investigators make their important work known. If you have a talent for language and a desire to know and communicate science, then look for a job supporting investigators in your chosen science field of earth science. Earth science is critical to the energy policies of today and the future. Earth science plays a huge role in global warming. Earth science is related to natural resources that are critical to businesses and national economies everywhere. Earth science will matter in every environmental initiative out there. You are specialized in a field that is poised for success in these times. Further, as a communicator of earth science, you will be making a difference in society--are you, too, in teaching because you seek to make a difference? YOU WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

You need a plan. First, read the book, _Now, Discover Your Strengths_, or at least the first 4 chapters of it. Then, search your history to see what you have always been good at--not your favorite subjects (you have enough training in those). Find out your talents. Look for the hidden stories of things you can do, but which were never directly measured with grades in school. What do you people say you can do? Are any of your talents considered unique, even weaknesses? Make them your STRENGTHS in the fields where they are needed. For instance, my ability to tactfully and unassumingly recommend edits in a document is a strength related to interpersonal skills, and which I learned while working among friends in my German classes. Where are your stories like this?

Then, decide whether you would rather DO or KNOW earth science: Both are good choices, and you must know which is better for your talents and temperament. Determine if there are social or personal causes or motivators that point you in some direction. Then, decide upon a range of fields, businesses, nonprofits, organizations, or locations in which you would most like to work. Join one specialized professional organization, where you can network and gain a new, nonteaching, credential. As an editor, I can work with clients anywhere, so you might like that option. You might want to look at the Society for Technical Communication (www.stc.org, where there is a Houston chapter and there may be others in Texas. Look also at www.amwa.org for an example of a writer's organization, but then find one like it specializing in earth science. Another option is to look for corporate jobs as a "Training Specialist" or "Instructional Designer," which are the code words for "teachers" in business settings. In your college alumni network, look for people doing jobs of interest and ask them for "informational interviews" to help you find out if their fields would suit you (do not ask them for a job, even though you might actually encounter someone who wants to hire you).

Once you have taken these steps, you will have the confidence to pursue your new, but related, career. You have credibility as a teacher, and no one will doubt that you are a good person with good qualifications who landed in a bad teaching position. Unfortunately for our nation, many new teachers seem to experience this. But that subject is for another discussion and not helpful to you here.

You need to find your direction and get any job that is both reasonable for your background and personally satisfying in any way. Then, you will stop reacting and start directing your future, as you used to do. The sooner you find a job, the sooner you can find your direction: It does not have to be a dream job, but it needs to get you started.

There is pain, grief, and disbelief where you are now, and I am so sorry that you are experiencing the loss of a well-chosen direction. Now that I am some years removed from my experience, I can tell you that my loss of my classroom teaching career allowed me to find a job that suited my talents and my education. YOU CAN, TOO!

Good luck and best wishes, Tammy. I hope that you will reply to this with a story of your success or ambition!

My goals for the new year

i am going to start the new year with going back to school to become a CNA for a nursing home. Which is a great occupation for me. Plus I work through the day with specail needs kids, so again that is a good thing. But what I really want to do is help others to be ebal to do more for their families and offer them a better future by helping them reach their goals as well. I am a second incoiome specialist on top of the rest. I love being busy and having the choice to make a better life for my own family.

But my goal for then new year would be to get my finances in a better place and feel good about myself.

HUSBAND HELPING WIFE

What's up everyone,

My wife is a stay at home mom for the last 5 years, she is going back to school and is finding it hard to find grants and scholarships for stay at home moms. If someone can help me out with helping my wife find grants and scholarships for stay at home moms please post the information on here.

Bordem at work

I have what most would call the best job in the world...good pay, great boss, wonderful people that work here, close to home, 4 day work week, wear jeans or shorts or whatever I want...now here's the problem. I'm busy about an hour of the day, the other 7 hours I sit here and play on the computer bored to death! I know things are tough right now and I do feel grateful and blessed to have this job, I'm just bored. Wonder if they'd mind if I start an internet business while I'm here?:)